


Just In Time

by ElizaStyx



Category: Supernatural, Supernatural RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Dean, Castiel is a bit of a grumpy (bad)ass, Castles, Cat Cafés, Crack, Dean is secretly a nerd, Dragons, Falling In Love, First Meetings, Fluff, Historian Misha, Historical Fantasy, Historical Locations, Humour, Jensen is curious, Knight Castiel, Legends, Les Visiteurs AU, M/M, Magic, Middle Ages, Old City, Prince Jensen, Princes & Princesses, Romantic Comedy, Secrets, Temporary Character Death, Time Travel, Witches, and Misha is just Misha, pure fluff, secret locations, spells, tearooms
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-16
Updated: 2015-10-10
Packaged: 2018-04-19 05:41:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4734665
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElizaStyx/pseuds/ElizaStyx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a king's messenger dies in a mysterious accident, a young prince Jensen is set on a mission to go back in time and save him to learn what information costed the man his life. The court witch Rowena is to brew a time travel elixir for him and his sidekick Castiel and everything would work out just fine, if only it wasn't in Rowena's best interest not to let the prince learn what the messenger had to say. Needless to say that the concoction turns out to have a slightly different effect than expected and the boys end up on what seems to be a cementery for hideous, gigantic creatures unlike anything they have seen before.<br/>Or, as Dean Winchester would like to put it, his beautiful and very own junkyard he takes a great pride in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys!  
> It's time for an annual, lenghty fantasy destiel/cockles fic so here it comes! The idea struck me so hard that I just couldn't resist picking it up and coming up with possibly the most fluffy and cracky fic I have ever written (and probably also the longest!)   
> I actually have the whole thing already planned to a very detail, however, due to the beginning of my school/uni year I have no idea how often will the updates come. I am sorry for that inconveniece and I hope you will decide to put up with me anyway :) I try to do my best :)  
> As for the fic itself, it's obviously an AU, very loosely based on the French film "The Visitors" (which is a really great comedy). It's set in the 21st century in a historic city that will never be directly named in the fic but for those who had been there and done that, it will be clear enough that it's beautiful, unique Kraków that I just so happen to live in. We've had an actual dragon living in a cave under our castle, guys, I think you can forgive me for my local patriotism and just let all the middle ages', magical ambience sink in ^^ Most of the locations mentioned are real places and I hope that maybe, just maybe, this fic will be a reason you come and visit me one day ;)  
> Not to prolong this already too long a note - fasten your seatbelts, darlings, we're going on an adventure!  
> L.

The door to the chamber swung open with a great momentum, causing the men gathered inside to lift their heads up and seek out for the source of the sudden ruckus. A young man with dissheveled hair and clothes, possibly one of the newly assigned errand boys, stood in the doorway, his eyes wide open and full of terror. He trembled a little as all the gazes fell upon him but he managed to take a shaky breath and blurt out "The messenger is dead, my lord."

"Oh for Perun's sake!" swore prince Jensen, stepping in front of the group. "What?!"  
Before he got his answer though, one of the knights grunted meaningfully behind his back. "Sir, we're Christians now." he reminded.  
Jensen turned to him, looking as if he couldn't believe the man had actually said that. "Jesus, not now!"  
"Now that's much better." the King's Minister Of Religious Correction That Reminds Us We're Not Pagans Anymore grinned with satisfaction.

Jensen rolled his eyes and taking a deep breath, forced his thoughts to return to the main topic of the conversation. The chamber was dimly lit but he could clearly see the fear on the boy's face. He smiled, trying to look as unthreatening as he could. "What happened?"  
"The villager said he found the messenger already dead, sir." the boy seemed to be even more intimidated now. "He says magic killed him, prince sir."  
Jensen clenched his jaw, eyeing the boy with barely hidden dissatisfaction, when one of the knights, a man with dark hair, a suspicious frown on his face and no fancy ministerial title to irritate people with, asked in a gravelly voice. "How can he know this was magic working? What could a simple villager know about that secret art?"  
The boy glanced at the knight with hesitation.  
"Answer him, boy." said Jensen, looking at the man who now stood beside him.

His right hand, faithful companion and best friend - Castiel, Cas, the one he would trust with his life.

"The messenger was hanging on a tree branch." the boy gulped; he surely wasn't comfortable speaking to any of the men gathered.  
"Sounds like suicide to me." Castiel summed up stiffly, glancing at Jensen.  
"No, no!" the boy protested and then blushed at his own forwardness. "I mean, no, my lord. He says the tree had hung the man."  
Well, this couldn't get much weirder, could it?  
"The tree? Hung him?" Jensen blinked few times, feeling a mighty need to finally open that keg of mead his brother had given him last week.  
"It caught the messenger, my lord. Caught him and suffocated him, leaving him hanging with the branch around his neck as if it had grown that way."  
Jensen exchanged knowing looks with Castiel. The messenger must have known something. Something that someone wanted to keep from the king. And they needed to learn what was that.

***

"You know, I sometimes wonder why our ways of solving problems are always so overly complicated." Jensen muttered, almost falling asleep as his horse lazily ambled up the hill. "And why the witch has to live so far outside the city walls."  
"The first answer is simple, Jensen." Cas took a look around; nothing interesting but fields of peacefully growing grain. "It's because you listen to Garth's ideas and then mix them up with mine, which leads exactly to that - overcomplication." he sighed. "I can't help you with the second question though. Maybe the air here is more suitable for naked dances under the moon?"  
"You think she dances naked?" Jensen looked positively shaken by the thought.  
"Who knows what a witch does in her free time..." Cas shrugged.

Jensen fell silent after that. They had to ride about twenty kilometres from the castle to the witch's tower and he was glad that at least they weren't in much of a hurry. After all, their plan was to go back in time and find the messenger before the murderous, possibly hexed tree gets to him. The witch had been informed they were coming and she was meant to have the right mixture ready for when they arrive. The day was sunny and warm and Jensen found himself enjoying their quiet little journey despite the boredom involved. He was actually content, lulled to sleep by his horse's steady walk and the companionable silence Cas provided. As the crown prince he didn't have many occasions to spend time so lazily with his friend. The sudden peace reminded him of their cheerful childhood together.

Where were the times when they could sneak out to explore the dragon's cave again and pretend the beast still lived there ready to eat them up? Where were the times they could just relax and stop pretending they were born to be stiff war machines and tough politicians? This was part of the reason why Jensen was so enthusiastic about this plan. Time travel! Even if just a couple of days into the past, it was an adventure and gods, how he missed adventures!

Of course, it would be far more reasonable to send one or two of his knights on that mission but hey, where would be the fun in that? And fun was one of these things he desperately needed these days. Obviously, his dad wasn't to keen on this idea but when Jensen said "I'll be back like yesterday." king Alan just had to crack up and let him go.

And so he found himself feeling a new rush of energy at the sight of witch's tower on the horizon.  
"We're doing this, Cas." he grinned.  
"Yes, we indeed are." Castiel said in a flat tone but Jensen could see a hint of a faint smile on his lips.

***

Jensen didn't feel too comfortable in the stuffed interior of the tower. He had a feeling something was observing him from between dusty jars with colourful, mysterious contents he didn't actually want to know anything about. Not to mention the stuffed crocodile hanging from the ceiling.

The witch, Rowena, looked pretty much bored as she handed them steaming mugs with her concoction.  
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Castiel squinted suspiciously, sniffing the white, boiling liquid.  
"Of course, honey." she sounded just as bored as she seemed to be. "I do this all the time. Go back and fix my mistakes et cetera..."  
Castiel's gaze grew even more suspicious. Jensen noticed him pumping up for a speech so he grabbed his arm and lifted his cup significantly as Cas focused on him. Castiel decided to deal with the witch later. Or earlier, if their plan worked.

"Ready?" Rowena raised her perfect brows.  
They nodded, Castiel much more reluctantly than Jensen.  
"Drink and I will recite the spell." she gestured towards their mugs, while she glanced down at a big book she placed on the table.

The mixture tasted horribly. Jensen had never tried anything so gross and judging from Cas' expression he hadn't either. Just as he finished drinking, he could feel his body starting to stretch out weirdly, while Rowena chanted words in a language he didn't know. The stuffed crocodile begun dancing and whirling before his eyes, spiralling and reaching out to eat him, swallow him whole. Jensen  wanted to slay it but he couldn't move, grounded by Cas' arm he must have gripped at some point. He looked at Cas to warn him that the animal was attacking them and he saw that Castiel's face changed, his nose grew bigger and eyes were bulging out. He didn't have the time to think much about that though as the next thing he knew was that they were falling. The floor disappeared from beneath them as a dark void, glistening with sapphire and violet sparks, sucked them in. He could only feel Castiel still by his side and as he squeezed his eyes shut, he could hear Rowena laugh and laugh in the distance...

***

If Jensen could tell one thing for sure, it was that this definitely was not their kingdom three days before their departure into the gaping maw of time. The ground under his and Castiel's feet was dirty and dry, isolated pitiful tufts of grass sticking out in few spots around. The sky above them was grey, thick clouds ominously gathering around, and they were surrounded by what seemed to be skeletons of some terrifying, gigantic beasts Jensen was sure he wouldn't like to encounter when alive. As soon as the world stopped whirling around they both pulled out their swords immediately, positioning themselves back to back and warily examining their surroundings.

"The witch lied to us!" hissed Castiel, his grumpiness back to full gear.  
"At least we're still alive." Jensen was breathing faster than usual; the air felt heavy, tasted rotten, he felt a bit sick.  
He didn't like this place. Was it even their country at all? Was it this hell the preachers warned them about? Maybe they both did die, after all...

Just as he thought that, making a discreet sign of the cross and whispering a silent plea to Perun, just to be sure every divinity was on his side, they heard quick footsteps approaching. Castiel gripped his sword tighter, ready to charge at the very first sign of danger.

Few seconds later a man appeared between two piles of the skeletons. Without any second thoughts or hesitation, Castiel launched forward. The man froze at the sound of primal roar that escaped Cas' throat and Jensen's eyes went wider as he took a look at the men's face. He felt as if he had just looked in a peculiar mirror.  
"Stop, Cas!" he shouted.  
But Cas was unstoppable then.  
"What the fuck, man?!" shrieked Jensen's reflection, instinctively ducking to avoid by a hair's breath the sword meant to chop his head off.

Well, this was definitely something Dean Winchester usually called a close call.


	2. Chapter 2

Dean Winchester had had a fair share of weird adventures in his life. Come on, a bisexual guy studying and living alone in a big city? Who could lure more adventurous people in? Personally, he had always thought it an advantage, this natural talent to get into funky troubles but he was more than ready to revise his view on life now as a guy, admittedly a handsome one, kept a freaking sword to his throat, crowding him against one of the broken, rusty cars on his junkyard and basically hissing at him, growling something about traitorous witches and Dean being only an illusion.

He himself wouldn't be so sure about that last thing. There were certain reactions of his organism that indicated he was very much real and ready to indulge in basic functions peculiar to every living being. Sue him for being a kinky bastard, who could be finding a bit of guilty pleasure in being manhandled.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he finally managed to blurt out, when the guy had to take a deeper breath.  
"Who are you?" asked the other one, the one that looked a lot like Dean, while the aggressor blurted "Shut up!" to Dean in the same moment.  
"I'm Dean Winchester." Dean chose to answer the question despite the murderous gaze he was glared at with. "I'm an aquarious, I like frisky women and men..." he begun and stopped as the blade moved closer to his skin. He gulped.  
"Stop it, Cas!" the calmer guy demanded. "Let him talk."  
"He'll lie, if the witch has sent him." the man, apparently called Cas, grumbled but eventually lowered his sword, still keeping a careful eye on Dean.  
"It's still worth listening." the man was pretty stubborn, a flicker of interest appearing in his eye; he took a step towards them.  
"Jensen..." warned him Cas.

But Jensen paid him no attention, approaching Dean with visibly growing curiosity. Dean noticed he walked strangely gracefully, literally making no sound as he moved. From up close he could see that basically the fact that Jensen sported a scruff while he didn't was the only difference between them. Jensen also had maybe a bit more freckles but it was almost unnoticeable at first sight. Looking at him felt really unsettling and Dean shifted uncomfortably, afraid to unglue his back from the car he was still leaning against.

Clearly some idea must have popped into Jensen's mind as he smiled predatorily in that moment. The Cas guy squinted, his blue eyes glistening somehow ominously in the grey light of oncoming evening.  
"What year is this?" asked Jensen smugly.  
"Twenty fifteen." Dean choked out.  
It looked as if an epiphany dawned on Jensen.  
"Good morning, my great-great-great-grandson!" he exclaimed cheerfuly.  
"It's clearly afternoon." mumbled Cas, grumpily lowering his sword the rest of the way.

***

"I gotta admit, I can't say I fully believe you just yet but I may be closer to it now." Dean looked between them tucked in the small space of the shed he usually sat in, when he wasn't working outside. "I've watched enough movies never to ignore unreasonable explanations in the beginning."

They put their swords away but still looked pretty intimidating in their light armour with coats of arms colourful on their fronts. As he looked at those closer, they actually were very similar to what the city's current crest was; they might have been a previous version of it easily.

"So you say you travelled like almost a thousand years into the future?" he had to hear it one more time.  
"Yes. And sadly my first discovery is that the furniture isn't any more comfortable now. I'm deeply disappointed in you, my descendant." Jensen shook his head, shifting on the stool that Dean had made with his own hands out of old car wheels and seats.  
"Hey" Dean pouted. "Don't offend my handy work.  
"Sorry." Jensen immediately stopped shifting.

"What is this dirty hovel even?" Cas crinkled up his nose, taking a look around.  
"It's not a palace but it's my workplace." Dean narrowed his eyes, trying to hide his embrassed blush; he certainly did not expect a man from middle ages (middle ages of all periods!) to find his shed dirty, maybe it really was a high time to clean up a bit...  
"I hope you don't live here as well, Dean. You're the crown heir, after all." Castiel focused on him again, his gaze intense, questioning.  
"Well, I hate to break it to you but we're a democratic republic now. As in, we don't have a king." Dean made an apologetic face. "Besides, I didn't know I was a heir of anything apart from my car, left alone a whole kingdom."  
Castiel grew clearly terrified, listening to him.

"Oh merciful Weles, this place is in a true ruin. We have to get back home and somehow stop this degeneration!" he grabbed Jensen's arm and shook him hard but Jensen kept staring at Dean with great interest.  
"Jensen!" Cas shook him even more brutally.  
"Yes, Cas, we will find a way to go back but first... I want to see the city." he looked at Dean. "Can you show us around?"  
Dean sighed heavily. "Yeah, man. I was about to close up anyway."  
"Great." Jensen stood up. "Where are the horses?"

Suddenly Dean Winchester realised with perfect clarity that this was going to be a long, long evening.

***

"So these are your horses now?" Jensen circled Baby with an equal reserve and interest.  
Castiel approached her with a frown on his serious face and poked the door with the hilt of his sword.  
"Hey! Swords and hands away!" Dean stepped between him and the car, which wasn't maybe the smartest move but he had to protect his Baby, right?  
Cas clenched his jaw, glaring into his eyes intently and Dean felt completely trapped by his intimidating gaze. He couldn't just back down though, not while he was in his own times and on his own territory.  
"My car, my rules." he didn't tear his sight away.  
Reluctantly, Cas took a step back and slid his sword back into the sheath.

Jensen paid their exchange no attention as he cheerfuly poked Baby with a gloved finger on his own and marvelled at the cold hardness of the bodyshell.  
"Is it alive? How do we climb on top?" he asked, measuring the height of the car.  
"She's not an it." Dean hesitantly looked away from Cas. "And we're not getting on top of her. We get inside."  
At that, Cas clenched his jaw even harder.  
"We are not willingly walking into a maw of an abomination, no matter if it is a female or not." he growled.  
Jensen shot him a curious look.

***

Castiel was fuming in the backseat as Jensen with a child-like grin ogled the interior of the Impala, reaching out to fiddle with the radio until Dean told him to stop. Winchester sighed and put the keys into the ignition. Baby roared happily and... Castiel pulled out his sword again, almost cutting his own legs off in the small interior.  
"Jesus Christ, Cas!" Dean almost slammed the horn on an impulse. "You gotta stop with this whole sword-waving act!"  
"The beast roared in anger, I have to protect my prince and myself." Cas was definitely not hiding his sword, eyeing the hood as if seeking for a weak spot.  
Dean could already imagine his upholstery cut and torn to shreds; the very thought pained him and he grimaced.  
"People don't go around with their swords these days. Peace, man!" he glared at Cas until the knight put the sword away.

Jensen seemed to be deeply amused by their conversation. The rumble of the engine didn't seem to bother him at all. If anything, he seemed to be rather excited.

"The growl is the sound of her working. She's like a giant mechanism. Look, we'll start moving now." Dean sighed and slowly released the clutch, trying to take off as smoothly as possible.  
Baby was an obedient car and they gained momentum gradually, in a very steady manner. Dean felt himself relaxing and a small, fond smile appeared on his face. He would put some music on, if not a feeling it could be a bit too much for the first car ride of the visitors.

Jensen looked like a kid on the Christmas Day, while Cas was clearly trying to cover up his fear and shock with a dissatisfied expression. Dean drove them between small detached houses before joining the beltway. Both Jensen and Cas were looking through the windows, Jensen openly, while Cas tried to hide his interest. As Dean sped up though, they both couldn't help staring with their eyes wide open at the passing cars, people inside them and then, as they reached the top of the hill, at the whole city spread out before them. Jensen's mouth fell open.

"Is that...?" he muttered fearfully and shot a glance at Cas to see if he watched too.  
"Yeah." Dean nodded. "It's your city."

Finally the fact that they were in the very far future sunk in Jensen's mind as he saw rows and rows of tall houses, factories and other buildings looking nothing like what he had ever seen before, while his castle, his home that hovered over the whole town in its golden days, was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh." he said and gracefully slid into a state of unconsciousness.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the drive after Jensen had passed out was pretty tense. Castiel obviously didn't trust Dean and Dean didn't exactly trust Cas not to stab him with that sword of his just because. Of course, he couldn't blame the man for being careful and so he didn't risk even touching Jensen to try shaking him back to his senses. Dean could feel Castiel's eyes on himself, boring into him, observant and not betraying the restlessness the man must have been feeling. Everything was alien to him, after all. In the tensity of his muscles Dean could see how much it costed him to fight the urge to jump every time a car passed them with a higher speed. Normally Dean would drive faster so that no one would overtake them but he was afraid to, given all the tension palpable in the air.

The city was spread before them with its whole haste, noise and glory. Dean would never admit it out loud but he loved that the developers investing there bent down to an agreement not to erect skyscrapers even that far from the center. It allowed the city to maintain its historical image. Of course, the suburbs were modern now but even in the peripheries they stuck to building rather smaller blocks of flats that could nicely meld with the older part of the town where the residential tenements reigned.

If you asked Dean, he wouldn't say that architecture fascinated him but he was definitely happy to buy a neat old flat just a short walk from the market square. A garage nearby costed him a small fortune but overall it was worth it. He knew the city through and through, he breathed it, he felt there at home. And maybe, just maybe he actually felt a little pang of excitement at the prospect of hearing out someone who had been there before the river changed its bed and the market square stopped being the main city market per se. So what if Dean was a bit of a nerd, who liked to visit museums and hear the guides tell the stories of a small village growing into a capital of the country. They were all mostly just guessing though, and here he had someone who had been there and seen that, who knew it as a modern history rather than vague tales modified by every person who told them over curse of the centuries. To put it simple, Dean was curious. And he knew that Jensen was curious too, he saw that spark in his eye right before the man fainted. There was clearly a great potential to be found in this situation and while he knew the visitors would be seeking for a way to return home, he was eager to learn from it as much as he could.

It had crossed his mind that a normal citizen would probably freak out and call a psychiatrist but he had had a fair share of supernatural experiences in his life and not many things could truly disturb his calm.

***

One of the advantages of living in a historical place with a fair amount of tourists and university students was that nothing seemed truly weird anymore. Even a pair of fully armoured dudes with swords in their hands, getting out of one very distinctive Chevrolet Impala.

Jensen had come around few minutes before they arrived at Dean's and looked even more confused than when he saw the city from the distance. The traffic was a bitch and they spent a while waiting to take the last turn so both time travellers could take in the surroundings up to a detail.

"Did we pass the gates?" asked Jensen silently after a moment of observation.  
Dean considered the guestion for a while.  
"There are no gates actually." it was an honest apology. "I mean, there is one but that's... a longer story. We'll get to it alright? Just take it easy." he smiled, hoping he sounded reassuring enough.  
Jensen didn't answer, looking somehow longingly at the green belt separating two roadways of the street.

He remained silent as Dean parked the car on the pavement deciding not to explain the concept of a garage just now, and sighed as they all had successfully gotten out to face the tenement he lived in. They caught few gazes of passers by, a kid who seemed eager to escape his mother to touch a sword and a pair of ladies giggling with clear interest. Mechanically Dean shot them a cheeky, flirty grin but then mentally slapped himself down to concentrate on his current problem. Which was Castiel with a stormy expression, keeping a hand on the hilt of his sword, ready to defend himself and his prince. Jensen seemed to be confused but colours were back on his face so Dean dared to hope he wouldn't pass out again any time soon.  
"Come on, guys." he said, deciding to move it to a more private place. "Let's go."

They followed him across the pavement to the entrance and watched carefully as Dean entered the code to open up the door. Castiel eyed the heavy, metal gate with distrust as they went through. The second door that were thinner and wooden didn't earn his approval either. Dean ignored the elevator as he didn't use it often anyway and led them up the stairs, praying for Sam not to be there. He didn't live with his brother but the younger Winchester had an ugly habit of dropping by at the most inconvenient moments. Fortunately, the flat was empty and he relaxed a little, turning the lights on.

When the lamps illuminated the relatively big hall, both Castiel and Jensen blinked owlishly, examining the completely alien environment. Just as Cas took a step forward, Dean stopped him.  
"Uh, guys, please take your boots off. If you don't mind." he tried to look as polite as he could.  
They gave him strange looks but obeyed, revealing pretty worn out footwraps that contrasted drastically with the pink, fluffy mat that Mary insisted on buying for him to protect the floor from the water and mud people brought in on their shoes.  
"Okay." Dean sighed, looking fairly disturbed. "I believe a bath would be in order. And new clothes for you."  
Castiel wiggled his toes, looking at them with a frown of concentration.  
"We took a bath this week." Jensen protested weakly, also eyeing his feet as if they offended him personally.  
"New clothes like the ones you wear?" Castiel raised his head and looked at Dean's t-shirt with a measuring gaze.

Thoughtfully, he took his glove off and carefully reached to touch the material, not really paying attention to a blush that appeared on Dean's face as Cas laid his hand on his chest and stroked it lightly.  
"It's so soft, gives no protection." he grimaced.  
"Well..." Dean gulped, very aware of his nipples perking up at the warm touch. "You can't roam around here in your clothes."  
Castiel's face told Dean that he was absolutely certain he could, no matter what Dean thought about that. Dean gulped again.

"We're not planning on roaming around as you put it, Dean." Cas finally turned away from him, looking at his fingers that had touched the fabric. "We have to see a witch as soon as possible."  
Jensen looked as if he wanted to protest but Dean was the first one to speak up.  
"A witch?" he blinked few times.  
"Or a wizard." Cas grabbed at his sword in a gesture that seemed completely involuntary.  
Dean opened his mouth and the closed it, reconsidering the situation. He was too fucking tired for this.  
"Can we deal with this tomorrow, please?" he made his best puppy eyes.

"Also I want to take a look around first." Jensen chimed in. "Aren't you curious, Cas? Even a little bit?"  
Cas looked between them with slight disbelief clear in the way he raised his eyebrows. Then he shrugged.  
"Perfect." huffed Dean. "Awesome. I'll show you around, alright? And then we take that bath."  
Jensen made a vague gesture of agreement. Dean was willing to take whatever was avaliable at this point.

***

This was definitely not a castle, nevertheless it must have seemed to be an interesting place, judging from Jensen's curious expression.  
"Where are your servants?" he asked as they reached the kitchen after peeking into five rooms out of which three were used mostly as guest rooms slash storages for clothes, books and trinkets, one served as Dean's bedroom and one as a living room.  
Dean glanced at him kind of distraught.  
"I don't have servants." he said silently, hesitantly.

Cas scoffed, shaking his head and lifting Dean's kettle to tilt it so that it would spill water all over him, if it had been full. Dean was glad he had drunk that coffee in the morning.  
"You work in a dirty dugout, live in this burrow and don't have any servants?" Cas cocked his head. "I'm not sure he is your descendant, Jensen. He just happens to look similar."  
"Hey!" Dean finally felt anger raising in his gut. "It's not a burrow! It's one of the biggest flats in this city! People don't get to live in castles or have servants any more. I'm quite wealthy for a guy my age, thank you very much." he tore the kettle out of Castiel's grip, surprising him. "You are guests here and you don't have any right to criticise so shut up and get your asses into the bath!"

He glared right into Castiel's eyes, not frightened by the anger flaring in them. Castiel gripped the hilt of his sword, clenching his jaw; none of them was backing down.

"Hey..." Jensen cleared his throat. "We'll take that bath now, okay?" he pulled at Castiel's arm.  
The knight slowly took a step back and let go of his sword, eyes never leaving Dean's. Dean exhaled sharply. Yeah, a long evening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that you get a better idea in what kind of building Dean actually lives, here's an excerpt from [English wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenement#Poland)  
> "Kamienica (plural kamienice) is a Polish term describing a type of residential tenement building made of brick or stone, with at least two floors. The word is usually used to describe a building that abuts other similar buildings in the manner of a terraced house. The ground floor often consists of shops and other businesses, while the upper floors are apartments. Kamienice have windows in the front, but not in the gables, since the buildings are close together. This type of building is most prevalent in city centers, especially in historical rebuilding of previously destroyed parts of old town districts. The name comes from the Polish word kamień (stone) and dates from the 15th century."
> 
> I decided not to use polish term in the text not to cause more confusion (and because it would look fucking weird), even though my research suggested tenement can be rather a pejorative term in English speaking countries. So to make it clear, in Poland these are mostly the pride of the city, especially now as we're having enough money to renovate them, the flats are spacious and high like no new apartments, and they are growing more and more expensive every year, which means Dean is one lucky cookie ^^ And yes, I'm an architecture freak, I almost licked buildings in Budapest because BEAUTIFUL OLD KAMIENICE *throws glitter and confetti*


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long, my uni had begun and I am mostly a mess of crying laziness since my whole life seems to be on a semi hiatus. Updated general info on the updates can be found in the note at the beginning of the fic.

'We'll take that bath' sounded easy enough but in practice turned out to be more of a challenge than Jensen anticipated. The bath was small and he had to keep his legs bent close to his chest, which was definitely not comfortable, especially as he still wasn't quite sure what he was expected to do in there. Dean showed him how to turn the water on and adjust the temperature but Jensen was, frankly, not completely okay with getting soaking wet and only then out of ideas what to do next.

"Cas?" he called hesitantly.  
Dean had left him to himself, mumbling something about clothes but Castiel stayed right behind the door to guard him. Not that Jensen was naked or uncomfortable with being so around Cas but Dean seemed kind of determined not to let them both occupy bathroom at once.  
"Cas?" Jensen called a little louder.  
Eventually the door opened slowly and Castiel's head appeared in sight.  
"Is something wrong?" he asked, a hint of worry in his voice.  
"I don't... get this." Jensen grimaced at his surroundings.

Behind him, on a small shelf, stood a lot of colourful bottles and weirdly shaped containers. The names written on the labels looked a bit French or more like some twisted version of it since he couldn't even guess the meaning behind them. Besides, what the hell was a shampoo even? That suffix - poo - sounded ominous. No, he was definitely not experimenting alone. If only Dean had servants who could wash Jensen without all this fuss...

Castiel sighed and stepped further into the bathroom. Carefully, he examined the mysterious containers, lifting them one by one to his eye leve.  
"This one says 'liquid soap'." he finally picked one and handed it to Jensen.  
Jensen eyed the bizzare device on top of the bottle. Hesitantly, he patted it and then pushed which made a drop of soap appear at the spout.  
"It works." he mused, staring at it with fascination. "How do I use it now?"  
"I think you have to get wet first. Soap works with water only." Cas didn't sound too sure about that.  
Jensen shrugged and put the soap aside to pick the shower head and run the tap. The water launched straight into his face. With a short scream he let go of the hose, which, of course, resulted in it going flying and pouring the water all over them both.  
"Turn it off!" Cas lurched back, almost falling onto his butt as he shut his eyes, water dripping from his hair onto his face.

What kept him upright was bumping into Dean who just decided to step in with a bunch of weird things in his hands. One look at the situation, even as Jensen managed to stop the water flow, told Dean everything.  
"Awesome." he summed up.

***

After giving both Jensen and Castiel very detailed instructions on how to properly use the bathroom facilities, Dean felt very tired. However, it was clearly not the end of that eventful day just yet. Gloomily he eyed the emptish depths of his fridge. Eating in town didn't prepare him for actually having guests over. At least he still had some edible cheese and bread, thank God for toasters.

He prepared square slices of cheese and set up the toaster for when his guests join him all dressed up. As this was done, he sighed and absently wiped his hands on a hand towel. It was getting dark outside, mostly because of the thick clouds crowding the sky. He opened the balcony door to let some colder air in and actually froze in the doorway, staring outside. The sight of a relatively small field of green, all bushy with trees and all kinds of wild unruly plants, tucked between the tenements like a secret jungle always had some soothing effects on him. He fully supported the idea of actually making a small private park out of it but secretly he liked it the way it was, a patch of wilderness in the heart of the city. Slowly, his calm returned to him and he didn't even startle as he heard hesitant steps behind his back.

As he turned around, first thing he noticed was that his guests looked... different. Dean silently congratulated himself on his apparent fashion sense and intuition. Jensen looked very collected, even weirdly **royal** in that red plaid shirt Dean rarely wore himself. Black jeans also fitted him and even though the clothes were quite casual, the way Jensen wore them made it so awfully easy to imagine him sporting a crown as a perfectly fitting accessory. Dean couldn't lie he didn't feel a pang of envy but it passed as soon as his eyes fell upon Cas, who was obviously unamused even though he looked absolutely stunning.  
_Blue jeans, white shirt..._ thought Dean, for once admitting before himself that he not so secrety enjoyed Lana's music; especially as it gave him ideas as brilliant as this one. He had to force himself to look away from Cas and focus on actually toasting the toasts.  
"Sit down, please." he gestured towards the wooden table in the corner of the kitchen, trying not to stare again.

"These clothes feel so bizzare." said Cas, taking a seat.  
"They are so soft." Jensen mused at his shirt. "I like it."  
"They won't protect us." Cas just wasn't looking at the bright side of life. "And I have no hiding for my dagger."  
"Buddy, people don't walk around with daggeres these days." Dean tried not to think what could happen, if he just let his guests out in the wind with all these sharp weapons and no respect nor understanding for the current rules of social interactions. "It's safe not to have weapons on you."  
"You've grown to be very strange people." Cas tilted his head as Dean just had to glance at him.  
"Peace loving ones, I guess." Dean shrugged and turned back to his toasts that were just about ready. "Okay, let's get these babies out." he muttered and managing noy to burn his fingers, served the supper to his guests.

They sniffed the toasts suspiciously and, warned to be careful due to the temperature, they picked up their portions to have a bite. Dean tried to remember what it felt like to taste a toast for the first time but his memory failed him, toasts had just always been there for him. Besides, he couldn't have been so shocked, at least not as much as his guests. Both Cas and Jensen froze with their first bites in process of chewing. Simultanously they emitted sounds that resembled something between yelps and moans.  
"So tasty!" Jensen mumbled and attacked the rest of his toast with vigour, throwing all reserve out of the window.  
Castiel followed his cue and they wiped their plates clean before Dean was even halfly done with his.   
"Well..." Jensen begun, licking his fingers with a fond smile on his face. "I think I'm gonna like it here."  
Dean decided that nothing, no school, could have prepared him for this.

***

"Wait. So you made us put on these clothes just to now make us change again?" Jensen furrowed his brow, lifting up the pyjama pants that Dean handed him.  
"Let's say it was a trial run." Dean grunted awkwardly.

The truth was, he was pretty sleep deprived but in his mind it had been just too early to change straight into pyjamas before supper so he figured a fresh set of clothes was in order. Besides, he hadn't been sure he was ready to handle all of them sitting at one table basically commando (he would never ever wear any briefs beneath his pyjamas because come on, who does that???). His guests apparently didn't share his views on the world of appropriate clothing and after-supper rules though.

"These times make no sense." Castiel discovered with something between shock and disgust in his voice.  
"Please, Cas..." Dean sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Just put your pyjamas on and let me tuck you into your beds, okay? We will deal with whatever the hell bothers you tomorrow."  
Castiel made a face of deliberate disapproval but took the pants from him.

Quite suddenly Dean felt a spark of hope. Maybe he was just hallucinating all of this? He had been working a lot lately, he should call Benny and make him take his shifts. A week of rest would be so in order.  
_Breathe in, breathe out._ he thought, closing his eyes. _Put your hallucinations to sleep and all will be better tomorrow._

As his breathing slowed down a little, he opened his eyes to find his guests staring at him suspiciously.  
"Hallucinations." he muttered to himself and then gestured for them to follow him to his guest rooms. "Hallucinations." he repeated as Jensen ogled the pink walls of the room now given to him.

The old divan squeaked as the prince sat down, slightly confused by the crowded interior. They had glanced inside before but now as he saw so many books surrounding him, dark furniture making the room feel tinier than it really was, it was something entirely different. Dean left him sitting with his pyjama pants held close to his chest.

"Hallucinations." he muttered as Castiel stared down the offensively green walls of his bedroom.

The knight huffed angrily, threw his pyjamas onto his bed and proceeded to undress, not paying any mind to Dean's presence.

"Hallucinations." whispered Dean to himself as he tried to convince his brain these tan plains of prominent back muscles before him were just a product of his imagination.

He snapped out of his sudden trance only as Cas' now unbuckled belt buckle clanged and it was definitely high time to go. He shut the door behind himself with a loud thud and a small painting of forget-me-nots that Sam had hung one day for not apparent reason on the wall besides said door shook dangerously, before stilling in a crooked position. Dean shot it a fearful glance.

For a whole minute he remained frozen to the spot, trying to calm himself down. His idiotic heart was beating fast as a traitorous blush coloured his cheeks. He didn't get why it was happening. After all, it was all just a...  
"Hallucination." he repeated weakly, still trying to convince himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you know that the word 'shampoo' appeared in English language in 18th century? In Polish it appeared at the beginning of 20th, used for the first time in commercials in its present form 'szampon'. Duh, the things you learn while writing a fic ;)

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are my fuel so don't hesitate to leave me some love and feedback ;)


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